Chin-secured dental aspirator



Dec. 28, 1965 w, GREENMAN 3,225,444

CHIN-SECURED DENTAL ASPIRATOR Filed Oct. 14, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR.

WILLIAM B. GREENMAN A TTORNE Y Dec. 28, 1965 w, GREENMAN 3,225,444

CHIN-SECURED DENTAL ASPIRATOR Filed Oct. 14, 1963 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. WILLIAM B. GREENMAN BME'WM ATTORNEY United States Patent3,225,444 CHIN-SECURED DENTAL ASPIRATOR William B. Greenman, La Mesa,Calif, assignor to lustro- Dynamics Corporation, San Diego, Calif., acorporation of California Filed Oct. 14, 1963, Ser. No. 298,657 4Claims. (Cl. 32-33) This application is a continuation-in-part of mycopending application entitled Dental Aspirator, Serial No. 134,410,filed August 8, 1961, and now abandoned.

This invention relates generally to dental instruments known asaspirators operable from a suction line to withdraw saliva from apatients mouth. More particularly, the invention is directed toimprovements in a chin-secured type aspirator having provision forreducing operating time, increasing operating effectiveness, andpromoting patients comfort.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided an aspiratorof the aforedescribed type which secures comfortably to the patientschin in supported relation to his teeth for evacuation of water coolantand saliva from the entire area of a selected quadrant of his mouth,thereby to maintain the entire quadrant in dry condition to facilitateand shorten operating procedures in that region of the mouth and withoutrequiring aid of a dental assistant.

The aspirator of the present invention is thus of a type to provideimpetus to the prevalent trend toward shortening of the in-chair time ofthe patient and closer scheduling of dental appointments, thereby toconserve time as well as to reduce stress of both the dentist oroperator and his patient.

Close scheduling of appointments, of course, enables the busypractitioner to conserve his time and energy so that he can extend hisprofessional services to a maximum number of patients. This becomespossible, however, only through increased effectiveness of dentalinstruments and opreating procedures which substantially reduce inchairtime while also increasing the patients comfort.

From the operators viewpoint, this means avoidance of the need fordependence on the patients cooperation, forbearance, and fortitudenotwithstanding the extreme stress and discomfort which the patient maybe experiencing. It also means the minimizing of delays occasioned bythe patients discomfort. Also important to the operator are such otherfactors as visibility and operability, that is, the advantages of havinga mouth work area which is maintained in dry condition, clear of debris,and clearly within view of the operator at all times.

From the viewpoint of the patient, important factors are the alleviationof the aggravation of purely preparatory and remedial procedures such asrinsing and expectoration, as well as the elimination of the annoyanceand exasperation, and at times near desperation, due to choking duringthe operating procedures.

These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the presentinvention are achieved to a large degree in the use of the chin-securedaspirator hereinafter more fully to be described which comprises ahollow stem, the lower end of which has provision for connection to aflexible hose, in turn, connected to a source of sub-atmosphericpressure. The upper end of this hollow stem supports a removable headhaving upwardly and outwardly extending lingual and buccal tubes formedintegrally as a unit with the head. The arrangement and configuration ofthe tubes is such that, upon insertion into the patients mouth, thelingual tube engages the lower front teeth to be supported thereby andalso engages the top of the tongue to hold the same down. The buccaltube enters and rests within the right or left corner of the 3,225,444Fatented Dec. 28, 1965 month, depending on whether the head is a rightor a left, and also becomes positioned along the teeth and between therow of teeth and the cheek on the right or left side of the mouth, asthe case may be.

The open end portions of the lingual and buccal tubes are interconnectedby a length of perforated clear plastic tubing which is flexiblypositioned in the mouth and directed from the lingual tube rearwardlyaround the back tooth in the row of teeth being treated and thenceforwardly along the row to the buccal tube, thus making it possible toremove the saliva and/ or coolant from an entire quadrant of the mouthat one time.

The upper end of the stem and the head have matching tapered surfaces,that of the head being an outer surface and that of the stem beinginwardly and downwardly, for limited insertion of the head into thestem.

A chin rest is carried by the stem and is provided with an integralsleeve which is slidably mounted on the stem. The stem is provided witha shoulder, in the form of a collar intermediate the top and bottomthereof, which collar serves the purpose of limiting the downwardmovement of the chin rest on the stem.

The advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing description, reference being had to the accompanying drawingwherein a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a side view of the instrument, parts thereof being shown inlongitudinal cross section; I

FIG. 2 is a view looking in the direction of arrow 2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view of the head and showing the perforated plastic tubingin position on the lingual and buccal tubes;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the plastic tubing taken along the line5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a View of the instrument indicating the manner in which it isapplied to the patient.

Referring now more in detail to the drawing, the instrument is shown at20 and comprises a hollow metal stem 22. The lower end of this stem 24is smaller in diameter than the main or upper portion thereof and isconnected with a pipe or flexible tube, such as a rubber tube orsynthetic rubber tube 26. The upper end of the stem is formed with arecess 28 which is axially aligned with the passage 30 in the stem. Thisrecess is tapered inwardly and downwardly. The stem 22 is provided witha shoulder 32 disposed intermediate the upper and lower ends thereof.This shoulder is in the form of an outwardly extending, circumferentialcollar.

In a preferred arrangement, lower portion 24 and collar 32 of the stemare formed separately therefrom, as disclosed in FIG. 2. In thisarrangement, integrally formed members 24 and 32 are also formedintegrally with a threaded upper portion or extension 70 which makesthreaded engagement with the lower portion of stem 22 which, for thispurpose, is internally threaded. In this form, member 22 is a simplelength of tubing, internally tapered at one end and internally threadedat the other end. This makes for simplicity in the manufacture,assembly, cleaning and sterilization of the instrument 20.

A metal head 34 is arranged to be received by the recess 28 in the stem22 and the lower end of this head is provided with a taper 36 whichcomplements the taper in the recess 28. The top of head 34 is closedexcept for openings for receiving the upwardly extending tubes 38 and40. The lower ends of these tubes are secured as by brazing to head 34and are in open communication with the passage 42 in head 34 andconsequently in open communication with the passage 30 in the stem 22.These tubes include upwardly extending and diverging portions 44 and 46,respectively, the portion 44 being extended upwardly more than theportion 46. Tubes 38 and 40 also include outwardly extending portions 48and 50, respectively, which proceed from their respective portions 44and 46 along arcs of greater and lesser curvature, respectively. Theterminal end portion of outwardly extending portion 48 is reverselycurved such that the terminal end portions of tubes 38 and 40 aresimilarly directed and lie generally in a common plane.

The outwardly extending tube portions 48 and 50 have the ends of alength of clear plastic tubing 71 slipped thereover, FIG. 4, andtogether with the tubing, are inserted and received in the mouth of thepatient in the manner disclosed in FIG. 6, as will hereinafter be morefully described. Tubing 71 is provided with a plurality of perforations72 which are spaced along the length thereof and radially directed, asbest appears in FIG. 5. The saliva and/or coolant water in the mouthpass through openings 72 and thence into the open ends of tubes 38 and40, from whence they pass into stem 22 and finally into the suction line26.

The arcuate portion of tube 38 rests on the patients lower front teeth73, FIG. 6, and the arcuate portion of tube 40 rests on the patientslower lip in the left corner 74 of his mouth. Outwardly extendingportion 48 of tube 38, and the end portion of tubing 71 thereon, rest ontop of the patients tongue 75 to hold the same down, as indicated at 76in FIG. 6. The outwardly extending portion 50 of tube 40, and the endportion of tubing 71 leading therefrom, lie along the row of teeth 78 onthe left side of the patients mouth and inwardly of his left cheek 77.Tubing 71 thus extends from a position on top of tongue 75 rearwardlyinto the mouth and behind and around tooth 79 which is the last orrearmost tooth in the row of teeth 78. The tubing 71 then extendsforwardly between this row of teeth and cheek 77 to make connection withthe end portion 50 of tube 40. Tubing 71 thus covers an entire quadrantof the mouth and may be adjusted for length to suit each arch merely byslipping more or less of the tubing over the end portions of the lingualand buccal tubes 38 and 40. The perforations in the tubing, moreover,being of small size and being of large number, do not produce anappreciable suction on the sensitive tissues of the mouth and tonguewhile nevertheless, in the aggregate, effectively aspirating the entirequadrant of the mouth. Tubing 71 may be cleaned, sterilized and reused.On the other hand, the tubing may be considered as expendable, andsupplied cut to length, or cut to length from a supply reel, asrequired.

It will be understood that whereas a left head 34 and its associatedtubes 38 and 40 are disclosed herein, a similar head and its diverginglingual and buccal tubes may be employed as a right head interchangeablywith left head 34 and seated removably in the tapered recess of stem 22when dental work is to be performed on the right side of the patientsmouth. In this case, i.e., to form a right head, the positions of tubes38 and 40, as viewed in FIG. 2, are interchanged such that tube 40 forthis purpose is positioned to the right of tube 38 for entry into theright corner of the patients mouth, tube 38 being positioned on thepatients lower teeth and tongue, as in the case of the left head.

A metal chin rest 52 is provided for holding the lingual and buccaltubes 38 and 49 in position in the patients mouth, the chin rest beingcurved to fit the underside of the chin, and the lower jaw of thepatient being clamped between the chin rest and the tubes 38 and 40, asdepicted in FIG. 6. Tubes 38 and 40 preferably are formed of metallicmaterial such as thin wall stainless steel tubing that can be flexedunder pressure and retain the position to which it is flexed so that thetubes may be adjusted to fit the patients mouth. Such tubes, however,must have sufficient inherent stability so as to support the instrumentwhen the tubes 38 and 40 and the tubing 71 thereon are positioned in thepatients mouth.

Suitable clamping means is provided for holding the chin rest 52 invertical adjusted position on stem 22. As herein shown, the chin rest isprovided with an integral sleeve 54 which is split longitudinally as at'56 to form a groove, and a cam 58, pivotally carried by the pivot pin60, is disposed in the groove. This cam is provided with two handles 62and 64 formed integrally therewith so that when the fingers of one handgrasp the stem 22 with the forefinger positioned beneath the chin rest52 and the thumb positioned in the arcuate hollow of handles 62 and 64,handle 62 may be pressed by the tip of the thumb to release the chinrest for sliding adjustment on the stem, as by manipulation of the thumband forefinger with respect to the rest of the hand which continues tograsp the stem. When the chin rest is adjusted as desired, that portionof the thumb in engaging position on handle 64 may be pressed to clampthe chin rest to the stem. The other hand all the while may be free toadjust the tubes 38 and 40 in the patients mouth, as well as the tubing71, as may be required.

As will be seen more clearly from FIG. 1, when the handle 62 is moved inthe counterclockwise direction, as by pressing handle 64, the cam willcause the sleeve to be pulled to the left into clamped engagement withthe right side of the stem 22. When the handle 62 is moved in theclockwise direction, as by pressing the handle 62, the cam is released,whereby the sleeve together with the chin rest can be moved vertically.The lower end of the sleeve functions as a shoulder. The shoulder orcollar 32 on the stem, lies in the path of movement of the shoulder 66on the sleeve, and thereby prevents the sleeve from being displaced fromthe stem when the cam is released.

Thus it is apparent that there has been provided a simple instrumentwhich can be made at a relatively low cost and readily operated by thedentist, by a student nurse, or by the patient. Also since the head 34is removable, such head and its lingual-buccal tube combination mayreadily be interchanged, a right for a left, or a left for a right, asthe case may be, without shutting down the suction line. Once the headis removed from the stem, moreover, the chin rest may be removed fromthe stem at that end thereof. Or the adaptor comprising lower stem parts24, 32 and 70, FIG. 2, may be removed from the stem to free the chinrest from that end. An adaptor such as 24, 32, 70, is advantageous sincedifferent type suction lines frequently require connector portions 24 ofvarying diameters and configurations. The complete disassembly of theparts including the tubing 71furthermore, provides ready access of thesame for cleaning and sterilization.

While the form of embodiment herein shown and described constitutes apreferred form, it is to be understood that other forms may be adoptedwhich fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined bythe claims appended hereto.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. As an article of manufacture for a chin-secured aspirator which usesa hollow elongated stem, a chin support formed of stainless steelandcomprising a contoured chin rest, a sleeve secured to said chin restintegrally therewith and slidable on said stem, said sleeve having aslot and spaced lateral extensions disposed on said sleeve on oppositesides of said slot, and a manipulatable cam disposed between saidextensions and pivot-- ally secured thereto and extended through saidslot for engagement with the stem to lock the same to the chin supportor selectively to release the same therefrom as the cam is rocked on itspivot.

2. A chin-secured dental aspirator operable from a suction line andcomprising, in combination, a hollow stem, adapter means at one end ofsaid stem for removably connecting the same to said suction line, a chinrest sleeved on said stem and having means for releasably securing thechin rest to the stem in adjusted position therealong, a hollow headdetachably secured to the opposite end of said stem in communicationtherewith, said hollow head and said opposite end of said stem havinginterfitting surfaces for detachably securing the same together,diverging lingual and buccal tubes formed as a unit with said head andextended therefrom in open communication therewith, and a loop ofperforated flexible tubing interconnecting said lingual and buccaltubes, said means for releasably securing the chin rest to the stemcomprising a cam pivotally secured to the chin rest and engagable withthe stem when the cam is pivoted, and an engagable actuator for said camextended longitudinally of said stern and to either side of the pivotalsupport for the cam for pivoting the same as either of the actuatorextensions is depressed toward the stem.

3. A dental aspirator as in claim 2, said actuator extensions beingdirected angularly with respect to the axis of the stem, the upperextension being engaged and depressed to rock the cam and release thechin rest from the stem, the lower extension of the cam actuator beingengaged and depressed to rock the cam to engage the stem and lock thechin rest thereto.

4. A chin-secured dental aspirator operable from a suction line andcomprising, in combination, a hollow stem, adapter means at one end ofsaid stem for removably connecting the same to said suction line, a chinrest sleeved on said stem and having means for releasably securing thechin rest to the stem in adjusted position therealong, a hollow headdetachably secured to the opposite end of said stem in communicationtherewith, said hollow head and said opposite end of said stern havinginterfitting surfaces for detachably securing the same together, atleast one tube formed as a unit with said head and extended therefrom inopen communication therewith, said means for releasably securing thechin rest to the stem comprising a cam pivotally secured to the chinrest and engagable with the stem when the cam is pivoted, and anengagable actuator for said cam extended longitudinally of said stem andto either side of the pivotal support for the cam for pivoting the sameas either of the actuator extensions is depressed toward the stem.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 969,922 9/1910Tracy 3233 1,353,587 9/1920 Heck 3233 1,742,080 12/1929 Jones 32332,561,622 7/1951 Grubb 3233 2,595,666 5/1952 Hutson 3233 2,603,8707/1952 Nordin 3233 2,644,234 7/ 1953 Scott 3233 2,830,371 4/1958 Dahl3233 2,859,518 11/1958 Cohn 3233 2,873,528 2/1959 Thompson 32333,078,578 2/1963 White 3233 FOREIGN PATENTS 62,755 7/ 1940 Norway.

OTHER REFERENCES Advertising Sheet by Central Vacuum Corporation, LosAngeles 23, Calif. (both sides relied upon).

RICHARD A. GAUDET, Primary Examiner,

4. A CHIN-SECURED DENTAL ASPIRATOR OPERABLE FROM A SUCTION LINE ANDCOMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A HOLLOW STEM, ADAPTER MEANS AT ONE END OFSAID STEM FOR REMOVABLY CONNECTING THE SAME TO SAID SUCTION LINE, A CHINREST SLEEVED ON SAID STEM AND HAVING MEANS FOR RELESABLY SECURING THECHIN REST TO THE STEM IN ADJUSTED POSITION THEREALONG, A HOLLOW HEADDETACHABLY SECURED TO THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID STEM IN COMMUNICATIONTHEREWITH, SAID HOLLOW HEAD AND SAID OPPOSITE END OF SAID STEM HAVINGINTERFITTING SURFACES FOR DETACHABLY SECURING THE SAME TOGETHER, ATLEAST ONE TUBE FORMED AS A UNIT WITH SAID HEAD AND EXTENDED THEREFROM INOPEN COMMUNICATION THEREWITH, SAID MEANS FOR RELEASABLY SECURING THECHIN REST TO THE STEM COMPRISING A CAM PIVOTALLY SECURED TO THE CHINREST AND ENGAGABLE WITH THE STEM WHEN THE CAM IS PIVOTED, AND ANENGAGEABLE ACTUATOR FOR SAID CAM EXTENDED LONGITUDINALLY OF SAID STEMAND TO EITHER SIDE OF THE PIVOTAL SUPPORT FOR THE CAM FOR PIVOTING THESAME AS EITHER OF THE ACTUATOR EXTENSIONS IS DEPRESSED TOWARD THE STEM.